Thursday, July 08, 2010

We have some WONDERFUL NEWS to share for achange. ALL 12 ATENCO PRISONERS WERE RELEASEDFROM PRISON late Thursday night. There were lastminute attempts to arrest the three mainactivists on other charges after the SupremeCourt ordered their release early Wednesdayafternoon, so we were all slogging around in thecold rain and mud out there at the maximumsecurity prison before they finally came out oneat a time beginning at 9:30 Thursday night,exonerated of all charges. (The 9 prisoners atthe other prison, Molino de Flores, had gottenout the night before.)

It's really a major triumph because, if youremember, Ignacio del Valle was sentenced to 112and a half years, Felipe Álvarez and HéctorGalindo to 67 and a half years, and the othernine to almost 32 years. They came out with afighting spirit, denying corporate media claimsthat justice has been done, and vowing to firstget America del Valle's charges dropped so shecan come home to her family, and then to get thestate criminals punished for their crimes. To getthe flavor of their release, you can watch a cool video athttp://www.youtube.com/v/T0sBMfgUIuM&hl=es&fs=1

Lots of people came up and said things like "Thisshows we can get Mumia and all the otherpolitical prisoners out, too. The State is NOT invincible!"

We'll be spreading the word about these newdevelopments against Mumia at the big celebration in Atenco tomorrow.

The judges of the First Court of Mexico’s HighTribunal today ordered, via telegram, theimmediate release of twelve political prisonersfrom the town of Atenco. Their freedom iseffective immediately, today, June 30. The Courtconcluded that the evidence did not exist tosustain the charge of “organized kidnapping,” inparticular the use of photographs as evidence.The judges also concluded that the presumption ofinnocence was not respected by prosecutors. Theyalso concluded that the crime of “organizedkidnapping” does not even appear in Mexican law.

In the cases of Ignacio del Valle and FelipeAlvarez, the judges stressed that the meetings atwhich officials of the State of Mexico weredetained by citizens (February 8 and April 6 of2006) had the goal of holding a dialogue toimprove educational conditions in the state andthat their detention was not premeditated, andthat the officials were released within 48 hoursunharmed. The decision to detain them was madeafter citizens objected to the repeated absenceof the state Secretary of Education in the talks.All the defendents received a protective orderprohibiting their arrest from the Court.

Outside the courthouse, members of the PopularFront in Defense of the Land and of the Justiceand Peace Committee for Atenco witnessed the endof a four year struggle that “was not in vain” asTrini, wife of Ignacio del Valle, told the crowd.“I see tears of happiness in the eyes of mycompañeros and I would like to say thank you toeveryone, thank you to the Mexican people andinternational solidarity. The federal and stategovernments are not invincible!” The mothers ofthe prisoners held at the Molino de las Floresprison were barely able to speak with reportersdue to the emotion in their voices. The mother ofHector Galindo, the last prisoner freed by thejudges, said, “for justice to begin we want thosewho are guilty of this barbarity to be in prisonnow. Today, only the injustice was stopped.”

Various of former Atenco prisoners were presentand highly emotional. 1997 Nobel Peace Prizelaureate Jody Williams also attended the courtsession. Leaving the courthouse, she took the microphone:

“At last, to the people of Atenco who havesuffered so much, there comes a hope of justice.I am going to inform my fellow Nobel Peace Prizelaureates, above all Desmond Tutu, who is rightnow praying for the people of Atenco.”

An hour later, the members of the movement headedout to find their prisoners at two penitentiaries in the State of Mexico.

Break the Chains.info

is a news and discussion forum for supporters of political prisoners, prisoners of war, politicized social prisoners, and victims of police and state intimidation.

This blog is organized and updated autonomously of the disbanded Break the Chains Prisoner Support Network formerly based in Eugene, Oregon. While this online project shares several of the same concerns as the old Break the Chains collective, no formal organization exists behind the current web presence.

"I will never surrender my pride and dignity nor allow the system to 'cut my tongue' and I will always, without fear, speak out against these war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter if I spend the rest of my life in a prison cage, and draw my last breath of air laying down in this steel bed surrounded by razor-wire fences and cages, and its prison policies that are designed to destroy one's humanity…."